This unit is an externally set assignment, I was given 8 themes to choose from but I could only choose one of the eight to base my work on. Link to all of the themes I could of picked as well as the one I went with: http://tallisalevelphoto.weebly.com/2017-exams.html
Connected images
"Photographers often produce work which is composed of a number of connected images. Varied examples can be seen in the photo-essay work of Gordon Parks, in the composite documentary images of Patrick Winfield and in the photographic installations of Nobuhiro Nakanishi. Investigate appropriate examples and respond in your own way."
The reason why I have decided to go with this theme is down to the fact that quite a few of my past photographs have touched on similar themes to this such as my viewpoint collages but I want to enhance my photographs by going in a direction which is both very similar and different so I don't have the same situation as the personal investigation theme change half way through since I have a much smaller time limit this time.
I already have some ideas on this subject matter I want to explore and experiment with and I think it would be nice to have a theme where I can combine some of my older and newer techniques to get more personalised results. Some of the ideas I am planning to explore were some ideas I decided not to look at for one or two of my previous themes which I avoided due to them not applying to the theme I had at the time or not connecting to the rest of the photographs I had taken before hand, so I am very excited for this opportunity to experiment with and try out some of my dropped ideas.
I already have some ideas on this subject matter I want to explore and experiment with and I think it would be nice to have a theme where I can combine some of my older and newer techniques to get more personalised results. Some of the ideas I am planning to explore were some ideas I decided not to look at for one or two of my previous themes which I avoided due to them not applying to the theme I had at the time or not connecting to the rest of the photographs I had taken before hand, so I am very excited for this opportunity to experiment with and try out some of my dropped ideas.
Link to the Connected images Pinterest
A photographed walk (School)
For this experiment I decided to take a photograph every time I walked through a door or turned a corner this would mean that I could document the entire journey without leaving anything out, I wanted to do something which I could improve and experiment with more later on if it turned out well. While the shoot went quite well I would say there is still room for improvement and I want to move into something more interesting as well as more to do with time and change, so while I might try this out again I would say this is just a small trial run with the idea of connecting images which I want to gain more ideas from to enhance some of my later ideas.
Patrick Winfield
Patrick's work is collages made out of numberous photographs which end up making an overall picture when they are all put together, I think this is a very interesting way to display the images he has taken since you are attracted to the scene he has given you and your brain makes you see some scenes without the divides between the images and re-arranges them into a complete scene until you completely focus on the collage but he has also done some collages which don't do this as well. For example some of these collages have very contrasting colours which spoils the immersion but as the same time it is interesting to see how he has made photographs with no connecting properties actually go together this well.
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Gordon Parks
Gordon's photographs are focused on people in America, one common thing about his images is how his photographs are framed very similarly to each other and seem to capture both the atmosphere of the location and the different personalities of everyone in photographs separately but still manages to connect all of the images together despite this. Another thing that is common in Gordon's photographs is how he depicts both Black and White Americans as the same since in the time he was taking some of these photographs the Black minority was still treated different to the White majority, so this is very interesting to see and it shows how Gordon wants to see both Black and White Americans connected and working together.
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Nobuhiro Nakanishi
Nobuhiro's work is very fascinating to look at down to the way he exhibits his work since you have no clear clue about what you are looking at however the way that his work overlaps itself which creates many different ways of viewing the work and creates a different perception and experience for each person who looks at the work. What else stands out is way that all of his work is vastly different from one another for example he has what looks like hand made negatives, photographs made out of multiple coloured glass panels layered ontop of each other and sculptures. All of these techniques Nobuhiro has done shows how much of an gifted artist Nobuhiro is and how his work is so vast and complex.
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Connected images mind-map.
I made this mind map to help me put down all of my ideas around connected images since I was unsure which direction I wanted to take my project in, however after making this mind map I got feedback about some of my ideas and I was recommended to look into Mari Mahr and seeing where I will go from there but I am just happy I got all of my ideas out in mind map since I was able to think about each area can link up and think up ways to actually display and present my photographs in the end of the project.
A day in the Tate
These photographs were taken during our Tate exchange visit, I wanted to record the day through images and I had the idea of having the day they were taken as the connection between them all, I looked for things that stood out to me and I wanted an wide range of images throughout the entirety of the Tate. The actual exhibition we were all running was called Tate exposed and was based around the general public trying to make their own photos through some activities we had made such as a giant ward of paper with projections being displayed on it, an angular booth which we encouraged people to pose in and take photographs of each other and a zine making activity which I took part in where you could create a zine out of pictures taken exposing the Tate. The whole idea of the day was connecting people to the Tate's art work more and helping them connect images and activities they would normally never imagine together which is very significant to the project I am doing now, as well as this I was really happy to actually get an idea of how the Tate operates and this showed me how much preparation and planning goes into make and preforming an exhibition.
My Tate exchange zine
For this zine I used pre-taken photographs which had been pre connected with a different photograph, while making this zine I wanted to make sure that the images that I put together and connected had some similarities to each other but not necessarily the actual images which were next to each other but instead a completely different photograph in the zine, I also incorporated smaller pictures into the zine as well as a diorama to make each section of the zine unique and to make each page a surprise to the viewer however I also wanted to incorporate the idea of exposure into the zine since the idea of the event was exposing the Tate, therefore using a circle cutter I exposed the back page of the zine to expose the end of the book before the book is even opened. I feel like this was a fun activity to take part in and it gives me a few techniques to think back on in the future and possibly an idea of how I want to display my final piece however I want my final piece to be both personal to me and the viewer very similarly to how this zine would feel to the people who actually took the photographs which I arranged.
Mari Mahr
Mari's photographs often contain repeated objects to other images in the photo shoot that the image belongs to another thing is how several of Mari's images are actually sculptures where he has made different scenes using plastic toys, cardboard, cotton wool E.T.C to make different scenes to take photographs of. I think this is a very clever way of connecting his images with each other plus the idea of the images with the made scenes in actually gets you to imagine the scene on your own which connects the viewer with the pre-made scene themselves since everyone is likely to imagine something different when looking at the scene and it might actually give some people nostalgia since they might of made scenes like that when they were a child. One photo shoot however stands out above all of Mari's others which is the "Symbols of ourselves" photo shoot where Mari has different mannequins which all look vastly different from each other with some being realistic and some being obviously mannequins with transparent heads, however Mari documents these mannequins like a family which gives us an false feeling of them being connected as a family while in truth the only connection is that they are all mannequins.
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Connecting misc images.
For this experiment I wanted to take photographs in my style with no exact connection in mind except they would all be taken in school around the same time however I will not count these as connections since I want to create a connection for photographs with images with very little similarities in mind. However looking at these now I can see that some of them have slight similarities but no similarities include all of the photos from the photo shoot, this in itself is a type of connection since all of these photographs are unique therefore in trying to avoid making photographs that are connected completely I have actually made an connection between them since they are all so different from each other which was something I had not originally thought of before starting this photo shoot. For my next photo shoot I want to take photographs with distinct connections and similarities to compare and contrast with these photographs, doing this will give me a clearer idea of which direction I want to take this theme in as well as give me an idea I will experiment with and work towards for my eventual final piece.
Looking at images with distinct connections
These images are all connected by the theme of circles or curves, for this experiment I wanted to work under the complete opposite conditions of the original misc images photo shoot by having a simple theme to connect the images to which was circles and curves since I knew I could find plenty of objects which are circularly shaped however this in it's own way was harder since actually deciding the objects that I wanted to take photographs of over ones which I would ignore was quite difficult since there are plenty of interesting items to take photographs of but if I took a photograph of everything then I would be there all day and I would most likely overlook better opportunities and photographs while taking another photograph of a clock E.T.C, so I decided to set myself a limit of 20 photographs since it would mean I would look harder for interesting circular objects and in the end have more interesting photographs. Comparing these to the misc images photo shoot I would say the most interesting images are those with distinct textures visible or with an background such as the hat on the graph paper or the pot of multicoloured pins on a equally colourful book from this photo shoot or the water fountain with the figure in the background or the broken red pen on the black box from the misc images photo shoot, I might have to look out for more photographic opportunities where I can get more images which are as equally interesting as these, however I also want to complete more experiments like this to see where I can take my photography and think of ways to develop my photography more while continuing connecting the images together.
Places from memories
Arches
Initial memory: I have some clear memories from the Arches swimming pool for example I can remember an cafeteria or sitting area with green stained glass windows and an arched ceiling throughout the room, not only this I remember the front of the swimming pool looking welcoming however strangely enough one of my most vivid memories of the pool was actually of the ramp outside since I remember walking up it with my mother when she was on crutches. These memories were probably when I was between 2-6 years old and I want to look around the area outside of the swimming pool as well to see if I remember anything else.
Notes from the re-visit: Although I originally remembered the glass windows as green re-seeing the glass tiles as blue made me recall that the glass tiles were in fact blue instead however the inside Arches was sadly off limits to me since it had shut down a while ago although just the view from outside was exactly how I remember it.
Notes from the re-visit: Although I originally remembered the glass windows as green re-seeing the glass tiles as blue made me recall that the glass tiles were in fact blue instead however the inside Arches was sadly off limits to me since it had shut down a while ago although just the view from outside was exactly how I remember it.
Poplar
Initial memory: I have tons of memories around Poplar since I used to live there until I was 5 however I have been on car rides through the main roads of Poplar recently although the last time I have actually been to the areas I remember the most was when I was around 9. My main memories of Poplar take place by or in the shops in the square where I used to eat in a Wimpy after pre-school which was on far left of the shops on the corner as well as an donut shop on the right side of the shops which I used to go to during an Saturday or Sunday, plus in the middle of the square was an glass library which opened recently before I left Popular but I remember it vividly since it had a beautiful view from the inside of the building. I also have memories of an market nearby an Summerfields store however that's as much as I remember about the market although I remember a Pub with a large white dog which I used to visit with toy cars which I ran across the back of the leather seats in there although I only remember the pub since the day we moved we brought all of our stuff to the pub and it's that day I remember the most however I do remember visiting it before hand. My old house had an ultramarine door since it is my favourite colour and it was next to an newsagents plus I also remember
the Poplar DLR station since I used to take the DLR to Canary Wharf every Sunday and the actual train journey might actually jog a few more memories about both Poplar and Canary Wharf.
Notes from the re-visit: From the re-visit I noticed that a lot of things had changed completely such as Summerfields now being an Co-op store instead, the pub now being a block of flats and all of the shops I had remembered had been replaced although actually looking around Poplar brought back memories such as the old clock tower, fire station and Balfron tower but the DLR station which I thought was Poplar station was in fact the All Saints DLR station instead. Other significant changes include the modern houses and flats and most of the graffiti around the market place apart from this it was the nearly the same as I was expecting.
the Poplar DLR station since I used to take the DLR to Canary Wharf every Sunday and the actual train journey might actually jog a few more memories about both Poplar and Canary Wharf.
Notes from the re-visit: From the re-visit I noticed that a lot of things had changed completely such as Summerfields now being an Co-op store instead, the pub now being a block of flats and all of the shops I had remembered had been replaced although actually looking around Poplar brought back memories such as the old clock tower, fire station and Balfron tower but the DLR station which I thought was Poplar station was in fact the All Saints DLR station instead. Other significant changes include the modern houses and flats and most of the graffiti around the market place apart from this it was the nearly the same as I was expecting.
Canary Wharf
Initial memory: I have quite a few memories from Canary Wharf such as the DLR station which used to have posters with skulls on which frightened me since I have a phobia of skulls and I would like to photograph any posters which are now up in their place, but I also remember going to Burger King which was on one of the highest floors of the building and a toy shop I used to visit which was near it, however unlike the previous two I have visited Canary Wharf quite recently for my personal investigation but I didn't visit the exact places I remember since I was looking for vantage points to take viewpoint photographs from.
Notes from the re-visit: While the posh marble floors and walls hadn't changed much the range of shop's had completely changed and the inside of the building felt very oppressive since the walls and ceilings had originally had some silver pipes flowing around the building which give it an middle class feel rather the higher class feel it conveys today, However since most of the shops I remember like Burger King and the toy shop had been replaced by much posher shops like LEON burger's I was actually surprised the station was exactly the same as I remember although it was much less used since the new station outside was much larger and kept Canary Wharf's posh feel with it but besides this I was happy to re-visit Canary wharf and get I varied range of photographs which when I first walked in there I was worried I wouldn't achieve.
Notes from the re-visit: While the posh marble floors and walls hadn't changed much the range of shop's had completely changed and the inside of the building felt very oppressive since the walls and ceilings had originally had some silver pipes flowing around the building which give it an middle class feel rather the higher class feel it conveys today, However since most of the shops I remember like Burger King and the toy shop had been replaced by much posher shops like LEON burger's I was actually surprised the station was exactly the same as I remember although it was much less used since the new station outside was much larger and kept Canary Wharf's posh feel with it but besides this I was happy to re-visit Canary wharf and get I varied range of photographs which when I first walked in there I was worried I wouldn't achieve.
North Greenwich station
While doing my photoshoots at Poplar and Canary Wharf I decided to also do a mini photoshoot at North Greenwich station since it is now my local train station to reach Canary Wharf and it is a clear representation of where I live now in contrast to Poplar which is where I used to live, Greenwich station is in a large modern built up section of London which is around a minute walk from the O2 arena and the station and area around it is very artistic and open which is a huge difference to Poplar's concrete, rundown feel as well as this North Greenwich station has actually won an artistic building award which shows the major difference between Poplar which receives very little money for it's landscape and buildings to Greenwich which is very close to a colossal tourist attraction therefore needs to stand out and be an attraction itself. This with Canary wharf's main station gives us the idea that if the building is near to another which will bring in tourists the more money will be given to the building near the tourist attraction since the Poplar station is not close to anywhere of much significance and Canary wharf DLR station, while looking shabby still looks pleasant to today's standards unlike Poplar's.
Objects from memories
Toy car
I wanted to find 3 objects from different stages of my life like the three places I re-called memories from above, I decided to choose a toy car from when I was 9, a keyring from when I was 14 and a bead symbol from when I was 5 with significant memories attached to them. This toy car was bought for me directly after my final piano lesson which brings back memories of going to Eltham church every Saturday morning to learn a new song on piano and after practice going to McDonalds to have an donut and a Cola, on the final day we then went into a toy shop to celebrate and this was what my Mum bought me that day, therefore I greatly associate this toy car with my piano lessons and it brings back many happy memories of those mornings.
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Keyring
I first bought this keyring in my first Comic con and it has been on the wall of my bedroom since, I have very strong memories about the comic con I received this in since I was able to meet some of my idols during it plus it was one of the first times I was with the community I had grew up wanting to be a part of. Even though the keyring was not part of the memory itself I still associate the keyring with it since it is an memento of the event therefore it is really quite important to me.
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Bead symbol
This bead symbol was created by my Dad for me after my first year in Primary school, He wanted to make it in most of my favourite colours and in an pattern I like, therefore it reminds me greatly of my primary school and my early home life in Eltham since this was done a year after I moved from Poplar meaning this is very significant object which reminds me of several memories.
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Re-taken photographs
William
This retaken photograph was very difficult to actually take since William had died very suddenly after the original photograph was taken and this was one of the last recorded photographs of him alive, for the retaken photograph I used the casket that holds his ashes but actually taking this photograph was very saddening for me since I was very close to him but I used this as a chance to say goodbye to him in my own little way as well as documenting change that I couldn't stop. This is a very emotional photograph to me and is very impactful on me as a person.
Eagle
These photographs of my Dad's eagle sculpture are an example of change that can be stopped and even reversed since I could of easily taken off all of the badges my Dad had put on the sculpture which would of reverted it to it's original state and then you would not be able to tell that these photographs were taken around 5 years apart from each other which shows that connections can easily be fabricated if you take a before photograph and an after photograph and made the change easy to reverse. While this is an interesting idea I could easily elaborate on I feel like it's not the direction I want to actually take this topic in so I will continue experimenting until I have an idea which I do want to take towards making a final piece out of.
Keith Arnatt
After looking through Keith's book called "I'm a real photographer" I noticed how Keith takes photographs of things that people would normally overlook such as brief notes his partner Jo wrote to him and different stick notes in shop windows which when put together without all of the information there (Some notes don't make sense without an story or object to go with it) seem strange and fascinating to look at which shows how you can remove and add connections from objects, for example what might of been instructions for cooking on an envelope with information for Amy and Archie inside which most people would throw away later become part of an series of photographs connected from the fact they are all notes and leaves the full meaning of the notes up to interpretation. This is also shown in the photographs of dog walkers since he is forming an connection between people who have no connection to each other apart from they are all walking dogs in the photographs however since Keith put them all in a sequence he has made an connection using people some people walk past everyday without looking at twice and what I find interesting is how Keith has found many different people walking many different dogs which shows how even ordinary people and objects can be completely unique without people noticing it.
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Connecting images with words
I took all of these photographs to see how I can possibly connect images with text and incorporate words and titles into certain photographs to make different meanings within my work, actually looking for words and phrases was actually quite interesting since the words all had different backgrounds and were displayed in different ways on different objects I then wanted to see how I could then combine them together to create different meanings and sentences.
I then tried combining the photographs together however in the end I was not actually pleased with the end results of photographs since they seem to clash together and don't convey what I want them to therefore I have decided to look for different ways of including text in my work in different ways however I feel like maybe even that is not the best of ideas so I have decided to look at more photographers and see where I go from there before looking for ways to incorporate text into my work when it might not be necessary in the end anyway.
Sohei Nishino
Sohei uses many different photographs of the same objects or area to form many elaborate collages which are both interesting in concept and execution, I want my final piece to have to same eye catching idea and unique style about it as Sohei's pieces have mastered, although I very much doubt that I can make anything near to the professionalism that Sohei's pieces have about them I want to make a final piece which is stylised and to a very high professional standard like Sohei's photographic montages.
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John Baldessari
John Baldessari's work stands out to me down to his use of cropping out important parts of his photographs which makes us guess about what was originally there and whether the vivid colour outlines are really outlines of objects which were in the original image or not. The way he connects different images to each other in montages is also very interesting too and reminds me about Mari Mahr arranged their photographs and montages but is also vastly different since Mari Mahr always kept the photographs exactly how they were taken while John's photographs look like they have been digitally altered while cropping certain aspects of the photographs out using different colours and shapes.
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Connecting lines
I decided to do another photo shoot where I would focus completely on taking photographs of lines which is the oppersite of looking for curves and circular objects which I focused on in a previous photo shoot and I wanted to see whether combining these was easier than combining the images of the text and words I had completed before hand but was not happy with the results which occurred afterwards.
Just from these 5 results I would say that this is more of the result I wanted from the Text photo shoot but I then tried making a huge connected image out of all of these lines similar to one of Sohei's pieces of work however that didn't go as planned since none of the images would meet up properly which was my one fear about this activity since I had a feeling that this would be the result, therefore I decided to not make it in the end so instead I tried overlapping the lines on top of each other in a triple exposure and decided to only use 3 images per collage which created these 5 results.
Manipulating and Connecting unwanted objects
For these images I took random pieces of paper from a bin filled with unwanted pieces of paper from people using the printer I then tried putting them together to see what types of images I could make from things that people thought was rubbish and seeing what strange results could stem from trying to manufacture connections and manipulating the left over images. I also wrote on blank pieces of paper to create stories within the images however some of these work better than others. Most of these images however look really good and even though the person who printed them, binned them for not being correct the thrown images when put together seem to go together really well and it actually saddens me to think that people don't see the possibilities an mistake can actually make.
Arranging objects
For these images I decided to build connections between objects with little to no original connections such as a small Led candle light and a candle holder or an small sign and a small sculpture of a lunar lander, but in the end the objects and how they are placed and arranged together actually create an story among them which forges an connection which wasn't originally there, I find this interesting since it shows how we can put together objects and forge stories since our brain tries to understand why things have been put together when maybe there was no reason for them to be put together in the first place. Unlike the unwanted images all of these work together and form stories while the unwanted images were disorganised and the meaning behind them was not always made clear.
Cropping images
For these images I wanted to remove anything from the original image that I felt interfered with the images connection as well as seeing how cropping an image can change it's meaning entirely if not everything is included in the new image which gave the old image it's connection to previous images before it, to do this I needed to pick a range of images some of which I believed needed to be cropped and some which I believed didn't need to be cropped. The results were quite interesting since it makes you focus on a wholly different main object in the image rather than what was originally the star of the image although there are some images that cropping bearly effects in this way.
Exposing new places
These photographs were taken in the back rooms in a library to expose the scene which are often hidden from the public eye, I wanted to do this a quick photo shoot since it would help me see how objects arranged haphazardly by someone else differs from images that I have arranged myself which are done and placed with an idea in mind which is different to this photo shoot where I had to improvise about what objects I would select to photograph since I limited myself by choosing not to touch or move any objects I came across. This photo shoot alone gave me a few ideas for my final piece but it has also made me look back on artist research and look more into John Baldessari's work as well as the ideas from the Tate exposed trip I was part of, this gave me the idea of digitally exposing images through other images by removing certain parts of the image above.
Exposing images
These images I tried exposing using different tools on photoshop however they didn't come out like I wanted them to since they came across as flat and dull but I do like the concept of exposing photographs like this through therefore I will explore this as part of my final idea and think of a way to physically make images like this for my final piece and to actually incorporate the audience into the images and the piece I have made.
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My final idea
My original idea was to make three plain white boxes with hole in each side which expose an image in the other side of the box, however this idea had a major limitation which was the fact that the amount of light the box would actually have inside would be to little to see an image on the other side of the box therefore I reworked my idea into a idea of making different slides out of the photographs from the three places photo shoots and cutting holes out of them then having a piece of wood which allows to viewer to arrange the slides and then look through them making and order entirely unique to them and therefore an completely unique photograph would be taken through the slide they had placed, however this also comes with some limitations such as I need to make sure that the slides fit into the slots perfectly and can be moved about with ease plus I need to make a wide range of shapes and patterns out of each of the photographs which can align with the other photographs which will be difficult to actually pull off but hopefully in the end it will make another final piece similar to the viewpoint final piece which was better than I actually predicted it would be.
Cropped images for my final piece
These images are the images I have decided to use in my final piece, these have all been cropped to exactly 800x800 pixels each ready to be printed out and then used to form the final piece. I only kept in the places were I felt there was the best sections that could be cut out for the greatest effect as well as this I made sure of selecting 6 photographs from all three photo shoots to be part of my final piece since I want to have the audience of the photographs to experience the same surroundings of the three places I have strong emotional connections to.
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Final piece diagram
This diagram shows what I want my final piece to look like, however I plan to have around 8-10 slots in the piece of wood which can hold 8-10 slides out of the 18 I am making meaning that there will be 8-10 unused slides which means the idea of selection is going to be very important in this piece as well as the idea of audience interaction. I wanted the idea that every single piece will be different so no one can make the same order unless they are very lucky or copy someone else who did it before hand, but since the amount of combinations are so vast the chance of someone making the same combination without copying someone is extremely unlikely. The only thing I need to watch out for is the fact that it will be very easy to make the slots or the slides too big or small for each other which could lead to my final piece failing what I designed it for, so I will have to pay close attention to the size of everything to make sure everything will perfectly slot into place. I also want to add more interactive parts to this so the audience can be more involved with my piece and form more connections with the end product by making something completely unique to them so I am planning on bringing in some different coloured filters which can be added with different slides and like the slides I plan on these being something the audience can experiment with to get their own view through the slides, which should in-turn emotionally connect them to the sequence they have created from the slides and filters that I have given them.
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My final piece
This is the end result of my final piece, I decided to go with 8 slots on the piece of wood rather than 10 since that means that selection of the slides is more important and means that the viewer needs to experiment to see what combination of images they want to use and with what filters. The filters I included were two plain yellow filters, one plain green filter, one plain blue filter, one plain red filter, two brownish orange filters, two room light filters and a frosted filter, these offer a wide range of effects which I wanted the audience to experiment with and to use to get varied results from their sequence. However shortly after incorporating the filters into the piece I encountered an dilemma since some of the filters were too dark and lead to some of the images being unseeable after them, however to make up for this I decided to allow people to experiment with what filters came off with what effects, so if it stops you from seeing pictures clearly after it you would enclude it nearer to the end of the sequence rather than the beginning E.T.C. The tools I have used to make my final piece includes an circle cutter, a scalpel, a ruler and a small saw I used the saw to cut the slots in the wood for the slides to fit into, I used both the scalpel and the circle cutter to cut the different shapes into each of the slides and the ruler to make sure I cut each of the slides as precisely as possible. Some of the photographs above show how easy the piece is to rearrange as well as what effects the filters give to show anyone who has no access to my piece how everything is designed and how they can be put together and taken apart with ease. I also made two test runs myself which I have documented above, for these test runs I decided to not use any filters and wholly focus on the order of the actual slides and what the end view through each of the slides looks like and whether the view is blocked by anything or not, after these test runs I then decided to allow people to make their own sequences and I recorded some of the results. What really surprised me was the amount of people who actually took great interest in my piece and this meant that they were continually experimenting and connecting with my piece and seeing what combinations everyone else had made, this is exactly what I wanted from this piece meaning this was a huge success and achieved all of my expectations and more, although despite this there is also room for improvement since I could of made many more slides given a larger time limit and some of the slides I have made were cut with a blunt knife which has lead to unclean edges which disrupt the smoothness of the image and any sequences using the image which is a huge shame.
Evaluation
This project was actually probably the hardest project I have done in photography since actually finding things that all connect together and photographing them all takes a lot of thought and time to plan out but I would say the end result made the difficulty of the project pay off. My final piece was mainly inspired by my Tate exchange/exposed trip and the photographers and artists: Nobuhiro Nakanishi, Sohei Nishino and John Baldessari however due to the magnitude of this theme I wanted to look at more ways I could take photographs and improve my work by looking at other photographs such as Keith Arnatt and testing myself by doing different experiments like manipulating and arranging objects looking at objects and places from my memories which also greatly influenced my final piece's theme, but one thing in particular was I wanted my final piece to involve the audience similar to how my viewpoint final piece did so I focused on basing my final piece on places where I have strong connections to and realised that stories give us emotional and mental connections to different objects and places and I thought on how I could make a piece which would allow people to make their own connections and stories using images that I have a strong connection to as well which gave me the foundation for my final idea.
The difficulties I have had with this theme include getting confused about which direction I wanted to take the theme in since I had so many ideas that didn't connect to one another and I had no idea what my final idea would be and what experiments I should look more into and which ones to scrap. In the end though I feel like I managed to bring everything together just as I wanted with experiments which at first I felt were stand alone ended up tying into other topics and experiments through connections I didn't realise was there at first, I feel like I over came these problems by persisting with difficulty and reviewing both new and old work to see what directions might work and how they might even lead into a final piece. I would say that making the mind map was a very important move for this project since it helped me get all of my thoughts and plans for this project down on a piece of paper which I could easily go back to and refresh up on any ideas I had forgotten about as well as some of the information I received on it as feedback actually lead to me looking deeper at arranging and manipulating objects which was a vital role on my project towards the end.
If I had more time to improve this project I would say I would take much more time looking into more places from my memories such as my old primary school, my Scout troop HQ or Oxleas wood as well as looking more into artists who deal with mental and emotional connections in their work as well as photographers who include their audience in their work or even just improving my final piece by re-cutting the slides I had cut with the blunt knife so they would be a lot smoother or just making several more slides for the audience to experiment with. Overall I am very happy with the final piece and all of the work leading up to it and although connected images was very difficult and frustrating theme at times, I would say that this actually helped me learn many more important skills both inside and outside of photography as well as improving my persistence to get work done even if it might not directly relate to the topic at that moment in time since it might actually relate later on. This project I feel has gotten me prepared for the world ahead and I feel like I have grown more as both a photographer and a person, and as difficult as I have found this project I am extremely happy I chose and stuck with this theme.
The difficulties I have had with this theme include getting confused about which direction I wanted to take the theme in since I had so many ideas that didn't connect to one another and I had no idea what my final idea would be and what experiments I should look more into and which ones to scrap. In the end though I feel like I managed to bring everything together just as I wanted with experiments which at first I felt were stand alone ended up tying into other topics and experiments through connections I didn't realise was there at first, I feel like I over came these problems by persisting with difficulty and reviewing both new and old work to see what directions might work and how they might even lead into a final piece. I would say that making the mind map was a very important move for this project since it helped me get all of my thoughts and plans for this project down on a piece of paper which I could easily go back to and refresh up on any ideas I had forgotten about as well as some of the information I received on it as feedback actually lead to me looking deeper at arranging and manipulating objects which was a vital role on my project towards the end.
If I had more time to improve this project I would say I would take much more time looking into more places from my memories such as my old primary school, my Scout troop HQ or Oxleas wood as well as looking more into artists who deal with mental and emotional connections in their work as well as photographers who include their audience in their work or even just improving my final piece by re-cutting the slides I had cut with the blunt knife so they would be a lot smoother or just making several more slides for the audience to experiment with. Overall I am very happy with the final piece and all of the work leading up to it and although connected images was very difficult and frustrating theme at times, I would say that this actually helped me learn many more important skills both inside and outside of photography as well as improving my persistence to get work done even if it might not directly relate to the topic at that moment in time since it might actually relate later on. This project I feel has gotten me prepared for the world ahead and I feel like I have grown more as both a photographer and a person, and as difficult as I have found this project I am extremely happy I chose and stuck with this theme.